THE HORSE MAGAZINE

The Hanoverian system of horse breeding is like some huge multi-faceted jigsaw puzzle, a curious mixture of time honoured tradition, tomorrow's technology and gee-whiz sales techniques. The system is without doubt the world's most successful breeding program, objective international results prove this over and over again, but the reasons for this success rest on so many layers of expertise, so many people, some voluntary, some the most professional-of-professionals - and at the base, a weather beaten crew of crafty local farmers who know when they are on a good thing!
Imagine a graphic which shows the 4000 or so breeders at the base, then the overlay of the Verband and the State
Stud, the local breeding society officials and helpers, the judges, riders, trainers, educational institutions, training barns, and the whole extraordinarily sophisticated selection process that comes into play at every point along the way.
The Hanoverian Verband is, to my knowledge, the only breed society in the world to conduct an annual study tour, in English. When we went on our first study tour, almost ten years ago, it was held in the German spring, and the emphasis was on the mare shows. This time, it was a two week course in the autumn, and the focus was keenly on the stallions. Or to be exact, the performance test and the licensing.

Since 1620, the Brüning family have lived at Ochtmannien. Hannes Brüning is the latest member of the dynasty to follow the horse breeders path. Indeed 18 year old Hannes is the current German Young Breeder champion, he is shown here with Wisconson, who was second at the German Special Mare Show that is only held every four years. The mare is by the Weltmeyer son, Wesley.

The stallions are licensed at two and a half, on the basis of their conformation, paces and free jumping ability. The next year they are required to undergo the performance test before they can become breeding stallions.
The three-and-a-half year old private stallions undergo a 100 day test, but the youngsters raised by the state stud, or acquired by the state stud after the initial licensing, undergo an eleven month test at Adelheidsdorf, the stallion testing station just down the road from Celle, the home of the state stud's 150 stallions for eight months of the year
In the first week of the study course we attended, the eleven month test at Adelheidsdorf was drawing to its conclusion. In the second week, 100 young stallions were to be presented for their initial licensing.
In between watching the final stallion trials we visited breeding farms and saw the mare performance tests. Again, you marvel at the seriousness of a horse breeding culture that has a mare trained for months under saddle and in free jumping, only to tip her out in the field for the life of a brood mare, once she passes! The mare test is not compulsory, yet the farmers put 60% of their mares up for testing, since they are aware that foals from a performance tested mare are likely to fetch higher prices, and that mares must be performance tested to become State Premium mares.
At the mare tests we saw another couple of hundred layers of the jig-saw in action. The handlers and trainers who prepare the mares, the volunteers who move the jumps and pour the coffee, and the extraordinary reservoir of respected judges upon whose eye, and integrity, the whole system depends.
At the mare test we attended at Hoya, the judge was Klaus Föge, a man who clearly loved the challenge of spending all day assessing some very high class ladies. His eyes twinkled with enthusiasm during the break as he explained why he'd scored as he had, and would you believe it, even in Lower Saxony, when all else fails, the judge says 'she is a very nice colour'!
The first leg of the Stallion Testing at Adelheidsdorf was the assessment by the test riders of the horses' rideability. The three judges were all exceptional riders - Hans Heinrich Meyer zu Stiohen, Hannes Baumgart and Holga Finken - and all three were getting quite different responses to their different sets of questions.
Hannes Baumgart tended to ask for a bit more collection, and it was magic when the exceptional mover of the group, the Wolkenstein 11 son, Welser was asked for a few steps of 'baby' passage. The colt produced the real thing - and then proceeded to show what a huge slow extended trot he has. He also showed a pronounced tendency to paddle with both his front legs, which inspired one of the themes of the week: how far will you forgive conformation defects in return for exceptional performance?
Forsyth, a nuggetty bay son of international showjumping star, For Pleasure, posed the question from the other side of the ring - he was an absolute toad for all three riders, jacking up and swinging away whenever he was asked to go near the short side in front of the audience, but he looked as if he might jump the moon, and with his father's international success...

If Welser was far-and-away the most exciting mover, the Rubinstein son, Rotspon was certainly the most beautiful of the young stallions, in a bunch that was full of both quality and performance ability.
The young stallions had a day's break then re-appeared for two tests: the free jumping and the basic gaits.
The star of the jumping Rascin who scored 131.56 for his jumping - not surprisingly since his dad is the late great Ramiro, and his mum is by the star jumping sire of Westphalia, Pilot, also sadly deceased.
Interestingly, Rotspon jumps quite nicely (he has a balanced mare line that goes Argentan, Pik Bube, Wenderkreis) and finished 7th in the jumping with a perfectly respectable score of 105.92. The two sons of Wolkenstein 11 demonstrate yet again what a great dressage sire, and sire of dressage sires, Weltmeyer is, with Welser in 15th on the jumping scale, and Wattenkieker, in 23rd.
The good looking winner of the initial licensing, Londonderry also proves that his sire, the Thoroughbred stallion, Lauries Crusador, is valuable for his effect in the dressage arena, as Londonderry is right down with a jump score of 88.91 in 25th place.
After a relatively stressful morning free jumping, the youngsters must front again, this time with the riders who have prepared them throughout the test for the assessment of the gaits. There are no surprises. Rotspon continues to glide around the arena, while Welser, although he can really move, paddles so much that he tends to bash the wall as he goes around. Another who has looked lovely all-the-way through is Beluga, a beautiful brown son of Brentano II, all elegance and ease and look-at-me presence.
The very next day, is cross country day, a fairly gruelling test which consists of 6000 metres, some at gallop, and over a fairly testing series of natural obstacles. Once again the black Rubinstein colt, Rotspon, looks a star and ever-so-rideable, and when all the scores are totalled at the end of the day, he is crowned the Champion Stallion of the performance test with a score of 145.67. Welser is second on 134.06, with Wattenkieker third with 123.66. Beluga, fourth on 122.33, and Londonderry fifth with 121.57.

Dr Burchard Bade has been the director of the State Stud Celle for the last 25 years. During his term in office, the breed has gone from strength to strength. When he speaks, serious students of breeding, listen. He sees the final result not as a product of the week's testing but as the end of a three year process:
"This is the fourth step in our selection of young stallions. Each year in the Hanoverian breeding area, about 3000 colts are born. From them 700 to 800 are selected when they are five or six months old by the breeders, who raise them for two years with colt selection in mind. When they are two-and-a-half, we select about 100 for the licensing. From this we take about 15 for the state stud, we have another 20 to 25 from our own raising stud. Every year we raise about 40 young colts, and take the best 20 to 25 into the licensing process. So we have around 40 three year old stallions each year, and from this group I try to keep the best, one or two are not the top scorers, but because of their pedigree we will keep them. Our selection program is only to keep the best, and it is a very high intensity program."
A process that is continually looking for a more refined type?
"That's another step. We look for elegant types when we select them at two-and-a-half, the performance test step, should only be based on performance."
In this process how forgiving will you be on conformation problems - for example the very nice moving Wolkenstein has the worst front leg action?
"I think you have no perfect horse. You must be able to consider such factors."
The Thoroughbred influence continues to be important through Lauries Crusador?
"Very important, we need Thoroughbreds, we have had about 10 to 12% Thoroughbred stallions over the years and it is a big problem to find and buy a good Thoroughbred stallion. The next problem is to get the breeders to accept the stallion, then the next problem is that the stallion breeds good foals. Then the problem is to bring that Thoroughbred back in the pedigrees to the second and third generation. If I have a good half-Thoroughbred, like Londonderry, then he is a very good prospect for breeding."
Dr Bade's final selection of ten to go into the State Stud are: Rotspon, Welser, Wattenkieker, Beluga, Londonderry, Gran Geste (by the interesting young sire, Gran Cru), Faraday (by For Pleasure), Lörke (by Lauries Crusador out of a Weltmeyer mare), Forsyth and Frambeau (by Werther).
Meantime, it's time to check out another of those essential elements in the jig-saw puzzle...
Inge Schmezer worked for the Verband for fifteen years, preparing horses for the Verden auctions. Now she works in an elaborate training barn in Hanstedt, one of the most beautiful parts of Germany and now a prime tourist destination for walkers, and trail riders, taking advantage of the network of tracks through the national parks in the area.
A few years back, Inge took on the training of a Wenzel gelding after he had been sold for DM130,000 the top price at the Verden sale. She took him to Prix St Georges level before she sold him to the Swedish rider, Louise Nathhorst. The rest is history - Walk on Top is the current Volvo World Cup Champion.
Right now, Inge is riding another Wenzel gelding, who also fetched a fancy $100,000 at Verden. Walzerpieler is six years old now, showing all the lateral movements, two times changes and training a bit of piaffe and passage ('but it is not ready to show yet' she tells us). I have never seen such a wonderfully prepared young horse. Every single movement is so unhurried, so effortless, and he is so calm and relaxed throughout it all.
"My method is the horses have to trust me," Inge tells us, "when he gets it right, stop, good boy - then the work is like playing. The horse has to trust you and you have to trust him. Starting early and doing lots of piaffe and passage is good for selling but not good for the horse. The most important thing is to take time in training, get everything else right, then start on piaffe and passage. With Walk On Top I never started piaffe until he was seven, with Walzerpieler I am only starting now."
Walzerpieler is a very different type from Walk On Top, much much taller but he has international performer written all over him... just wait and see.

This is a horse! Ludwig Christmann starts to get technical with the help of a Weltmeyer/Bolero mare from the stunning band of Hans-Gunter-Berner

Our next host is Hamburg businessman, Hans-Gunter Berner and his ever-so-charming and hospitable family. Herr Berner has only been breeding horses for two and a half years, but he shows that if you buy the best of the best, and have an exceptionally good eye, it doesn't take long to assemble a barn of superstars. For me, the best of the band are the two and a half year old black colt, Rasputin (by Regazzoni, a son of Rubinstein, out of a Lugano mare) and another black, this time a brood mare, by Donnerhall out of a Lanthan/Woerman mare, with a foal at foot by the Trakehner, Hohenstein. As they say round here, 'zuper'.
Once again, the hospitality of our hosts is overwhelming, the Berner family have prepared a feast of the most wickedly wonderful cakes, decorating every table in their wonderful reception room with candles, it's just like Christmas!
Our tour focuses in the second week on the licensing of the two and a half year old stallions (see report in Transitions this issue) and we can only agree with the assessment of Dr Bade and the members of the commission, this is the best ever collection of young horses presented. The 1998 model Hanoverian takes the breath away - such beauty, such athleticism, such depth of breeding.
The best is surely yet to come...
(Chris Hector and Roz Neave were the guests of the Hanoverian Verband on the study tour, and particularly thank Ludwig Christman, Britta Zungel, Monika Meyer and Enno Hempell, for their time, knowledge, warmth and friendship.).